In good news for art collectors, mononymous illustrator Gerhard has created a some brand new images that he's offering for sale as handsome limited edition prints. Based mainly on scenes from his and Dave Sim's acclaimed and uncommonly beautiful work on Cerebus, the selection demonstrates Gerhard's unique contribution of ornate, intricately detailed and immersive background "sets" and environments to Sim's at times controversial opus about the life and times of an anthropomorphic aardvark.

The prints are available separately and limited to 75-100 copies each and signed by the artist as well as Sim (where applicable), but the hardcore Cerebus fans may wish to avail themselves of the hand-colored editions, limited to just 25 copies each.

One of comics’ most startling creative (and physical) achievements, Cerebus is a 6,000-page self-published graphic novel series written and drawn by Sim with backgrounds by Gerhard that the famously outspoken Sim has described perhaps unreliably as “the longest sustained narrative in human history.” There’s little as impressive in terms of pure visual storytelling as Sim’s variously hilarious and infuriating magnum opus about an anthropomorphic, despotic, narcissistic aardvark whose life we follow as he graduates from mercenary barbarian to prime minister to pope to, um, super-pope-king.

Gerhard joined Sim at some point during High Society, the series' second volume and first storyline structured as a graphic novel. The artist's command of photorealistic detail married well with Sim's increasingly deft cartooning and lettering, creating a visual style unlike any other American comic book, and one that truly immersed the reader in the fantasy world of Estarcion, featuring locales as diverse as posh hotels, papal palaces, stunning vistas, dark dungeons, chiseled mountain sides, creaky log cabins and beer-stained public houses.

Some of the new prints feature Cerebus characters, including the aardvark himself and beloved Jaka in a standout scene from High Society ("Sanctuary," the one I bought), and a particularly striking piece depicting the series' thrilling showdown between Cerebus and his nemesis Cirin, set in a reflective marble throne room that Gerhard famously drafted from almost every conceivable angle in the Reads graphic novel.

You can learn more about prices and ordering information from Gerhard's webstore.

The sixteen Cerebus graphic novels are not always in print, but they're generally available from finer comics shops and Amazon.